Notre Dame's firsts

Success on the gridiron — and in the classroom

January 07, 2013

Notre Dame's football team practices last week for Monday night's BCS title game. The Irish are ranked No. 1 in the nation — and the football program graduates 97 percent of its players, sharing the top spot in that achievement with Northwestern. (JEFF HAYNES, Reuters Photo)

The University of Notre Dame has a lot to be proud of. In the last U.S. News and World Report listing, it ranked 17th among national universities. Its law school is ranked No. 22, and its undergraduate business program has been named the best in the country for three straight years. It's an excellent place to get an education.

Oh, and this year it has a pretty good football team.

Notre Dame has a rich gridiron history, featuring a long list of legends: Knute Rockne, Lou Holtz, Joe Montana, Tim Brown and too many more to list here. But lately, Irish fans have found it hard to wake up those echoes. Over the past decade and a half, the team has averaged five losses a season — which is the stuff of mediocrity. The Irish have won only two of their last 10 bowl games. They haven't won a national title since 1988.

Commentators told Domers to get used to it. The glory years were past, they said, never to return. Top recruits would rather play in warm-weather climes like Florida, Texas and California. Notre Dame was fatally hobbled by high academic standards. The center of gravity in college football had shifted southward. The Irish faithful were living in the past.

But some funny things happened this year on the way to the BCS title game. No. 1 Alabama, which was said to be capable of competing in the NFL, lost to Texas A&M. Kansas State, after rising to the top of the polls, was shocked by Baylor. At 10-0, Oregon fell to Stanford.

Suddenly there was only one undefeated team in major college football (except Ohio State, which is on probation) and it was from South Bend. Having capped a perfect season with a win at the University of Southern California, the Irish will meet Alabama in Miami tonight to determine the national champion. Linebacker Manti Te'o won the Maxwell and Walter Camp awards for the nation's best player and finished a strong second in the Heisman Trophy voting.

It's easy to forget, though, that these players are not mere athletes — they are student athletes. At Notre Dame, that's not an oxymoron. This year its football program tied with Northwestern's for the highest Graduation Success Rate in the FBS division, with 97 percent. This marks the first time ever that a school has been first in the BCS ranking and the academic ranking at the same time. To an impressive degree, Notre Dame has achieved athletic success without compromising its educational mission.

Notre Dame's alumni, students, faculty and fans can take pride in how the university has melded success in academics and athletics. And a lot of other schools could learn a lot from its example.